MCD BIO 50 Lecture 20: developing Human-Non human chimeras in Human Stem Cell resarch- ethical issues and boundaries
26 May 2016
School
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Developing human -nonhuman chimeras in human stem cell research: ethical issues and. Argument: that the transfer of human brain or retinal stem cells to nonhuman embryos would not result in the development of human-nonhuman chimeras that denigrate human dignity, provided such stem cells are dissociated. The chimera: a mythological creature that was part lion, part snake, and part goat and breathed. Re. an inhuman, capricious creature to be avoided and at worst as a brutish, evil monster to be slain. a monstrous unnatural body signi ed a monstrous unnatural disposition. The moral taboo argument to bring chimeras into the world seems to some an abomination akin to incest or cannibalism. The unnaturalness argument does not appeal to an inarticulable sense of repugnance or abomination, but it can be seen as a way of explaining the connection between such repugnance and the structure of the universe.
